Word: kassem
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...last April demanded an autonomous Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Led by Red-leaning Mustafa Barzani, a onetime mullah (religious teacher) who spent twelve years of exile in Russia, Kurdish rebels have seized control of the northeast corner of Iraq, seriously imperiling the autocratic regime of Premier Abdul Karim Kassem...
Barzani, whose English-cut suits look out of place among the tasseled turbans, billowy pants and murderous khanjars (curved daggers) of his followers, was so encouraged by his successes that last week he boosted his demands from Kassem...
...Kassem reneged on his promises, and at the same time Moscow cooled on him; the feuding clans patched up their quarrels and, under Barzani's expert direction, turned their guns on the government...
...raids on isolated Iraqi police outposts, recently shifted his rebellion into high gear after cutting down operations during the winter. Launching a major offensive at the end of March, the Kurds attacked army battalions at Dohuk and Zakho north of Mosul, leaving 50 dead and 150 wounded. When Kassem ordered air strikes near Sulaimaniya against Kurdish villages packed with women and children, the rebels retaliated by sacking some 200 Arab towns, raping the women inhabitants. In cities held by the government, the Kurds have embarked on S.A.O.-style assassination campaigns...
Night & Day. Kassem's military tactics against the Kurds have been almost totally ineffective. Because one-third of his soldiers are of Kurdish origin, Kassem is afraid to send some units against the rebels, never gives his forces more than two days' supplies and ammunition, lest they turn on him. As in most guerrilla wars, the army controls the roads, particularly during the day, while the Kurds control the countryside, especially at night. The army rumbles up and down with its Soviet armor, smashing rebel roadblocks, while the Kurds move swiftly cross-country in small bands, armed mostly...